Worm races at Beverly Library

Program shows kids that even creepy creatures can be fun

By Kate York, kyork@mariettatimes.com
BEVERLY — It was a tough break Thursday for Gummy the earthworm, who went from bait to champion and back to bait in just a matter of hours.

Gummy was one of about a dozen worms saved from the bait bucket by the Beverly Branch of the Washington County Public Library to participate in their first worm races, an effort to pique children’s interests in a variety of subjects and books, even those with main characters that are slimy, wriggling and legless.

“Worms are kind of nasty,” said Desiree Ohlinger, 9, of Stockport. “But this was kind of fun.”

The children in the library’s summer reading program, which began Monday, all got to pick a contender, then place the worms in the center ring of a library table. Once the racing began, the first worm to wiggle free of the pack, across the table and cross the finish line was the winner.

Spray bottles of water in the hands of the children and plenty of cheering helped motivate the racers to move.

“I was spraying mine and getting him really wet,” said Alex Headlee, 9, of Waterford. “I learned that when worms get wet they crawl faster.”

Headlee’s worm, named simply Worm, won the second round of the race, after a neck-and-neck finish by Gummy in the first round.

Gummy’s handler, Thomas Winkelman, 9, of Waterford, said he did plan to take his winning worm home with him but after that, the news was all downhill for the fastest worm of the day.

“I’m going to use it to fish,” Winkelman said. “I like worms, though. They’re cool because they’re slimy. (After it rains), we like to pick them and hit each other with them.”

The worm races are a staple at some libraries, said Beverly library clerk Patti Palmer, race master for the day.

“We got the idea from a seminar, but there are libraries that do this every year,” she said. “I think they had a good time, but next year we’re probably going to make an even bigger racing field.”

Today at the library, the theme activities continue with a “Fear Factor”-style day that will allow the participants to eat chocolate-covered ants, grasshoppers and other insects.

Mixed in with the daily antics are lessons about which bugs live where and how worms benefit the earth.

Children’s books, including “Diary of A Worm,” are available for the children in the group to read, with many already gaining a new perspective Thursday on the creepy-crawly creatures that were once just a reason to squeal and run away.

“I was kind of freaked out by them before, and I didn’t want to touch them,” said Tiffany Jeffers, 8, of Waterford. “Now I would say to everyone: ‘Don’t step on worms.’”